Familiarity Breeds Contempt

When people are taught to change their behaviors or to admit their shortcomings, they use whatever means available to transfer blame for their sins to someone else. Almost always, they lash out against the messenger, pointing to the hypocrisy of their teacher or explaining how a person’s identity invalidates the message. In doing so, they shift everyone’s attention away from the elephant in the room: the integrity of the message itself. Can a man accuse a woman of chauvinism? Can a German accuse a Jew of racism? Can a prophet teach his biological elders? Yes. Definitely. But we claim otherwise to avoid accountability. The problem is amplified when people believe they own the message or consider themselves familiar with its content. We’ve all met the Christian who “already knows” what the Bible says. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus comes face to face with this person “in his hometown, among his own relatives and in his own household.” Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 6:1-6.